Magic FORMULA in Sepang, Malaysia

(bummer. Nico Rosbergs Williams engine blew up...well, tht happened at least right in front of us)

(To provide a suitable background for this post, play this short mp3 and set your stereo and speakers to max volume ;-) More pictures can be found here.)

DON'T FORGET YOUR EARPLUGS

A Canadian told me around New Year's Eve that the Formula 1 would be in Malaysia this March. It is weird that I had not realized that earlier. There was a not too distant time when I had all facts and dates always ready...I have been a big fan of the F1 in midst 90s, but my interest faded after 2000, maybe because of my studies then, maybe because all the new regulations made it just less interesting. The F1 had changed or me, probably either. However, the outcome was that Formula 1 races began to be medium-interesting events, that did not deserve full attention anymore..:-)

(all Malaysian beauty - the big city of Kuala Lumpur was just 1 hour away anyway - accumulated in Sepang that weekend...the picture shows you grid girl 'Umi' who made the BMW Formula 1 car she was supposed to present even more sparkling...)

HOT IN EVERY SENSE

But still...this opportunity of seeing that kind of event live was so tempting that there was not really a second thought. Just imagine, we paid 50 Malaysian Ringit (roughly 12 Euro) for the whole weekend ticket, including qualifying, race, Porsche Cup and anything else that took place there. (Moto GP later this year is even cheaper...I heard that the best grandstand ticket will cost 10 Euro for the whole weekend...the cheaper ones around 2 Euro!...That really leaves not much of a choice, don't you think?).

(the Malaysian Formula 1 circuit..we had our place just next to C1)

(we experienced the race like the local Malaysians..no grandstand, but openair meadows with palm trees that gave at least some shade...this is 'F', according to map above)

So how to characterize the experience? INCREDIBLE heat (38°C = 100°F) + humidity of course. None of us (we were 5 friends /colleagues, all from Infineon) had ever been to a F1 race. The most stunning characteristic was the noise and generally the first few minutes of the race, which basically made quite an impression. Everyone stood up when the cars where on the track and screamed their way past us. The power and force seems to vibrate through the body when the engines go as high as 19.000rpm (=revolutions per minute, a normal car usually will hardly go higher than 6000rpm and this is already noisy enough!)

Our experience was a bit spoiled by the fact we had no TV-screen to trace what was really going on down there. After a few laps it is just not possible anymore. Luckily, some Malaysians next to us were well-equipped with tent, diesel-generator and TV (!), so we could at least get the ranking from time to time. All in all, very impressive to see this, won't be the last time. It was a bummer that my favorite Rosberg had to face an exploding engine so early in the race, but we'll see later this year!

(not this time, Schumi. Fisichella won here in Sepang...one thing I realized though is that M. Schumacher really seems to personify the sport to some degree. everyone knows him...red car, red helmet..that's the common denominator. I might be a bit biased here because of my origin, but I'm not his biggest fan. Still, the feeling of respect for this driving talent was prevalent here..)

WHAT IS A PROTON?

This post is all about engines and cars. I cannot leave out to tell that I was very happy to finally drive a rental Proton Waja that weekend. Proton?! Huh? Never heard? It is basically an abbreviation for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional, which can be roughly translated into 'National Automobile Project'. It is mainly a Malaysian symbol of patriotism to buy and drive a Proton (however the percentage of Proton cars declined from the usual 60% to 30% in 2005..but they still seem to own the streets..). This state company came into existence only in 1983. The one who knows Mitsubishi and Citroen car models will quickly recognise some remarkable 'similarities' which are not quite coincidental.

Well, driving in Kuala Lumpur was 'fun'. One really has to develop some 'bad boy'-behavior to survive there. However, it was a good idea to get a Malaysian car nonetheless, not just because of the price (50 Euros for 2 days!). Singaporean cars are very visible in MY, since all the numberplates begin with an 'S'. Other drivers and especially police (I'm not kidding) love to pick out Singaporean cars on roadblocks for any conceivable offence. It's just not a good idea to take out your Singaporean BMW or Mercedes in the Malaysian countryside, if you don't want someone to try his keys on the polish overnight...

One last, but important thing. Please mind that Malaysians do not turn on a rear fog light in case of bad visibility on the highway (we happened to drive into a typical tropical rain storm on our way back to Singapore on Sunday night). Suddenly, you will see all cars around you with switched on hazard warning lights. This caused some confusion with me, because they would of course not slow down...

Maik

Singapore - Extended Version

(in the meantime, Singapore became somehow synonymous to coffee. I never drank so much of this delicious beverage. And I herewith DEMAND that Starbucks eventually settles down in Germany!)

6 MONTHS LATER...

It's been a few days since my last post. Work has climaxed last week in a project workshop that had to be prepared and conducted. Not much time left for anything else. However, I do have to say that I find myself pretty much at home here in Singapore (has it really been half a year already...?). Returning from any kind of excursion and passing the border and customs now usually amounts into this well-known cosy feeling of 'coming back'. No cab driver will try to rip you off (it's all meter here), the temperatures seem to be a bit more moderate, and the nice skyline says hello again on the way to EastCoast.

Usually, 'home' is where you understand and are able to interpret everything. However, according to this definition, Singapore can never be home. For me, this English word is really not specific enough to distinguish between the German 'Heimat' (more or less 'home country', the place where your roots are and where you have no difficulty in understanding and interpreting all the little facets of daily life) and 'zu Hause' (which for me signifies the place where you are resident). Singapore might be a tad sterile (some say it's just too clean to be Asian), but all the friends that I made here, the convenient way of living, the lovely climate and the gorgeous food will not make it easy for me to leave nonetheless..

TO COMBINE THE 'BITTER' AND THE SWEET

(Singapore impression...more on this further down)

Which brings me to the point. The originial plan really was to stay with Infineon until March 15th 'only' (which obviously passed) and then head back to Germany for my thesis. Well, plans are there to be changed :-) I am so lucky now that I finally got my stay here extended to at least September 15th, basically to write my university thesis here about a SAP-related topic in Computer Intergrated Business! YIIPPIIIEHHH...It's like one of the heaviest burdens was taken from my shoulders just a few days ago, when my visa extension was erventually approved (additionally, I know for sure that my heart has the right size thanks to x-ray and that I am totally HIV-clean. well, at least something :-)).

SINGAPORE MIX

The idea is now to be in Germany to see my family and a lot of you guys for 1.5 months in May and June and then to come back to Sipo until my thesis is finished in December...What next? Well, my look goes further north in the same timezone..

I want to have a quick look at Singapore itself once more in this post. The picture above is a non-faked impression of Singapore (my fav), taken by me in Chinatown. The big monument in the middle and the cows one the roof belong to a fascinating Hindu temple, which is situated just there. I will probably go there next weekend with an Indian colleague..so stay tuned for an inside report here ;-) The highly diverse range of new and traditional buildings like you can see on the picture can be found on many spots in Singapore...This is the mixed picture the city presents very often. This is even more visible on the streets..A highly sophisticated road toll system extists here and flashy Mercedes S-Class cars drive right next to trucks with open loading space and 30 Indian construction workers on it..

I guess I already mentioned that this city is quite multilingual. Big announcements, signs and labels are usually displayed in English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Hindi (btw, the exclamation mark seems to be absolutely universal..where does that come from??). This can sometimes be seen as public dictionaries for people who are willing to learn :-)

Enough for now. I will post some more later this week. You can look forward to a report on bloody hot Sepang FORMULA 1 Grand Prix.. Time to go to bed..frickin' tired..

Cheers,

Maik